Best of 2007 Anime Awards, Day 5 – Action
Posted by 0rion on December 30th, 2007 - 2:30 pm
There was a time when the genre “Action” didn’t have the connotation of mindless protagonists, clichéd “take over the world” plots, and gratuitous vehicle explosions in every other scene. Then a very silly man named Michael Bay came along, and well…the rest is history. A very sad history.
Thankfully, several folks in the anime realm still have the vision that good action means epic tales and captivating adventures, and this year was certainly no disappointment in that department.
Also, just to give fair warning for folks who have not seen all of Darker than Black and Gurren Lagann, major spoilers ahead.
Coolest Superpower
Winner: Amber, Darker than Black
Runners-up: Geass (Code Geass), Megane Beamu (Dennou Coil), Beam Spam (Nanoha StrikerS), Microbe Vision (Moyashimon), Defy All Known Physical Laws (Gundam 00)
Just to make this clear upfront, we’re not considering “spiral energy” to be a superpower. 
Although there have been a great many characters with amazing abilities of the course of the year, I think the most fascinating has got to be Amber. Even at the end of the series, we don’t really know the full extent of her powers. She’s demonstrated that not only is she capable of stopping and reversing time, she apparently even has some ability to perceive the future and to give others visions of their future as a warning.
While perhaps not the most visually impressive, it was definitely one of the coolest and most mysterious. And of course, time manipulation is always among the most powerful of abilities just in general.
Amber was quite the intriguing antagonist, not ruthless, but not trustworthy either, and always somewhat ambiguous. It’s no wonder, then, she had such an amazing power.
Of course, being able to control time would also have its advantages for everyday tasks. You burned the bacon in the morning? No need to fret, just back up time! You find yourself unfortunately positioned in the path of an oncoming bus? No problem! Simply stop time, collect yourself, and flip off the driver while you’re at it; it’s not like he’ll ever know.
Come to think of it, such a power would give you quite the license for irresponsibility. Perhaps that’s why the obeisance is so severe. Though you’d think that most women would leap at the chance to literally reverse their age at will. That could probably be considered a superpower all on its own, for that matter.
Lamest Superpower
Winner: Iba Itsuki, Rental Magica
Runner-up: The first contractor from Darker than Black
“Honami! Fire your Kansai-ben attack at 37.86014 degrees north by northwest! Nekoyashiki! Use your zanpakuto…err, I mean, your paper airplanes at e^(i*pi) degrees left by right by pizza!
I calculate that we have a 32.33 (repeating, of course) percentage chance of survival! Everyone attack the monster that we can all see very clearly while I stand here and try to look GAR!!”
Like most others, as soon as I saw that eyepatch in the promotional artwork, I figured it was there to conceal some terrifying forbidden jagan power, a final trump card ability. I spent the whole first episode putting up with Itsuki’s uselessness, just waiting for the moment when it would finally be revealed what kind of hideous deus ex machina power he possessed. Mind control? 24 hours of virtual torture? The ability to make his enemies commit suicide? What?!
And then the grand finale comes, he rips off the eyepatch… and transforms into a middle manager. Seriously, what is a power like that good for? Playing Battleship? *sigh*
Now after watching the first episode of Witch Hunter Robin, I had thought that no “super” power could be feebler or more unimpressive than tripping people with sand runes. However, that longstanding record has been shattered by that first contractor from the beginning of Darker than Black, whose power was to float awkwardly. Not flying precisely but more drifting like a child’s errant balloon. And on top of all that, his obeisance is breaking his own fingers! Ouch.
I would’ve checked the fine print on that contract, buddy.
Best Battle Cry
Winner: Tamaki, Bamboo Blade
Sure there were lots of manly action heroes with big voices and bold attitudes, but none of them could top little Tama-chan yelling out “IRASHAIMASEEEE!” at the customers while wearing full bogu, shinai in hand.
And can’t you just see the light of justice in her eyes when she does her amazing kiai during kendo matches? :3
Best “Magic Legs Lieutenant Dan!” Moment
Winner: Awakened Legs Clare, CLAYMORE
“Motto! Motto! Mwottooo!“
I gotta give props to the makers of CLAYMORE. Despite all the Claymores looking like virtual carbon copies of each other, they actually managed to give them a pretty interesting variety of abilities. Without a doubt, however, the one that made me laugh the hardest was Clare’s episode 23 transformation. I know it was supposed to be dramatic and gripping, but I couldn’t help but chuckle watching her fly back and forth, just trashing whatever building happened to be in her way.
Seriously, somebody get this gal a contract as a running back. After all, partial awakening doesn’t count as steroid use, right? And then just hope she can put on the brakes before she takes out the goalpost.
Best One Liner
Winner: UNDECIDED!
We can’t decide, you decide!
Honestly there were so many amazing one liners it would’ve been a terrible injustice to choose one over all the others. So, instead we compiled a list of our favorites and decided to put it out there for you guys. Do you have a favorite choice out of these?
- “Massugu Go!”
- “All hail Brittania!”
- “Honi honi!”
- “Bye-bee!”
- “Row row fight the powa!”
- “I’m in despair!” / “Zetsubou shita!”
- “What if I had died?!” / “Shindara dou suru?!”
- “Mochi goes whee~.” / “Mochi unyuu~.”
- “Who the fuck do you think I am?” / “Ore wa dare da to omotteiru?”
- “Pierce the heavens with your drill!” / “Omae no doriru de ten wo tsuke!”
- “Believe in the me that believes in you!” / “Omae ga shinjiru ore wo shinjirou!”
- “Just as I thought, you were lying… there’s no one inside you.” / “Yappari, uso dattan janai desu ka… naka ni daremo imasen yo.”
Best Power Stance
Winner: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Simon and Kamina’s “Pierce the Heavens” battle stance, combined with swelling triumphant music and light streaming down from the heavens, is a moment of near GAR-euphoria. It’s so epic and so monumental that it’s entirely possible you could suffer a brain aneurysm from prolonged exposure.
Best Use of Power Tools
Winner: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Good thing I’m not into carpentry, because Gurren Lagann has ruined me when it comes to handling drills. I’d forever be holding the bloody thing up in the air and shouting stuff like, “Now I’ve lost it; I know I can drill!”
On the other, it would be kind of handy in a vocational setting, too. You would never have to change to a bigger drill bit, you’d just hold it over your head and yell in a manly fashion and the drill would conveniently level up to the size you needed.
You know, you’d think that Black & Decker would’ve attempted to swing some kind of marketing deal with Gainax. As soon as they figure out how to make drills that are powered by “fighting spirit”, that is.
Haha, so it’d be like the Pizza Hut product placement in Code Geass? “GIGA BLACK & DECKER® DRILL BREAKER!!”
Hmm…it doesn’t have quite the same impact as C.C. sitting on the bed in a T-shirt eating pizza.
Most GAR
Winner: Simon, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Runners-up: Hei (Darker than Black), Kaiji (Kaiji)
Although Akagi is technically the lifelong holder of this award, we had to make a concession due to the fact that his show didn’t air this year. But even if it had aired, it would’ve been a difficult decision between the always cool and collected gambling genius and Gurren Lagann’s intrepid hero Simon (”Believe in the me that believes in you!”). From somewhat a uncertain adolescent adventurer to the “so GAR it’s almost embarrassing” savior of the universe, Simon is the quintessence of manliness and GAR.
Other runners-up of note:
Hei – Every time he stepped into a battle with his badass Kuro no Shinigami mask on, you knew that some major smack was about to laid down. Combined with his awesome knife wielding skills and lethal electricity powers, Hei is most assuredly GAR to the core.
Kaiji – What kind of a list would this be without mentioning the manly tear-shedding gambling pariah? Kaiji is the classic antihero. No matter how many times he falls, he always rises again.
Best Improvised Projectile Weapon
Winner: Galaxies, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Runner-up: Giant Stunna Shades, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Just when you thought Gurren Lagann couldn’t possibly get any bigger, any crazier, any more badass. That final battle was truly epic, a worthy conclusion to the series. And not only were Simon and Co. amazing, you gotta give props to the Anti-Spiral, too! In what other series have you seen the antagonist use galaxies – galaxies! – like they were mere shuriken?
You’ve gotta love the sunglasses-boomerang maneuver, as well. I mean, is there anything more awesome then tearing your opponents asunder with one mighty toss of your stunna shades? I think not.
Best Mecha
Winner: Gurren Lagann, Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Runner-up: Code Geass
And a clean sweep for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann! Although honestly, there was no real competition that can compare with the peerless dominance of Simon & Co. Coupled with Gainax’s unique and fluid animation style, the cartoonish bravado of the mecha itself is just priceless.
I mean, the thing wears giant sunglasses, and poses with with flames and erupting volcanoes in the background, for crying out loud. In any other series that would be gratuitous and cheesy, but with Gurren Lagann it feels absolutely right.
As cool as the final form Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was, I have to say, I still like the original version best.
The broken helmet, the two talking heads, the giant shades, the color scheme – it was all great. 
Best Action Series
Winner: Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann
Runner-up: Code Geass
Right from the very beginning, Gurren Lagann was a show that knew what it wanted and where it wanted to go. It’s an increasingly rare example of a series that knew how to pace itself, neither too fast or too slow in unfolding the grand overarching narrative.
The strength of the cast is another thing Gurren Lagann did well. We were able to see all of the main cast grow and mature over the course of the series, especially our intrepid protagonist. From his humble origins digging underground, Simon underwent an amazing transformation to attain legendary status as a true man’s man, a hero among heroes.
I think that after the disaster that was Ikari Shinji, Gainax’s anime karma swung so far off in the emo direction that no normal means was capable of bringing them back. To return to equilibrium, they needed something so bad to the bone, so unquestionably awesome that it could become an equal and opposite match for Shinji. And thus Gurren Lagann was born, Gainax’s redemption, the polar opposite of everything Evangelion.
Really, the opening line, “Are all the lights in the sky our enemies?” and its corresponding answer in the final episode, “All the lights in the sky are stars,” is a nice analogy for the series as a whole. Regardless of how innumerable or insurmountable the obstacles in your path may be, with determination you can pierce through them all and reach for the stars.
Gurren Lagann was one of those series that’s essentially a nonstop thrilling ascent, becoming more and more intense with each episode. Watching it is like listening to a Mars Volta album or riding a roller coaster; it’s just perpetual action and win.
But just because Gurren Lagann is pure adrenaline doesn’t mean it shirks on the plot or characters at all. The story isn’t afraid to “pierce the heavens” and push the envelope. Despite being somewhat in the shounen genre it has the integrity to develop themes of grief, sorrow, and sacrifice. The story is so visceral that regardless of how over the top it gets, it never feels cheap. It’s as if Gainax has performed some great act of penance, purging themselves of the purgatory that is Shinji’s legendary bitchiness. I can say with confidence that with Gurren Lagann they have pierced the ceiling of that purgatory and burst through to the heavens.
Actually, don’t you think that “Defy All Known Physical Laws (Gundam 00)” fits Gurren Lagann better?
My vote goes to “Who the fuck do you think I am” but for laughs I want to nominate “I ate the sugar and alcohol came out!”
I always felt that watching Gurren Lagann was akin to listening to the Mad Capsule Markets with the stereo turned up to 11. Excessive, exhausting but ultimately exhilerating! As declarations of “We’re back!” on the part of Gainax as a *good* studio go, this show fits the bill.
If there were an award for ‘most traumatic superpower’ I’d vote DtB’s Mai. The sight of her unconsciously setting fire to people and looking on in horror was pretty heavy.
@ psgels
Not at all, because in the Gurren Lagann universe, spiral energy explains everything!
“But but…how could a drill larger than the entire robot come out the of…”
“Doesn’t matter! Spiral energy!”
Whereas Gundam 00 at least pretends to be somewhat realistic.
@ intro
Haha, good call there!
In addition to the others listed above, I’d also have to throw “Boku Sacchi!” into the mix as well.
@ Martin
“Most Traumatic Superpower”?
And the runner-up would be Ebihara Chinami from Code-E, I suppose?
1) I know I’m probably some sort of heretic but man, I really didn’t think GL was all that great. I had a lot of difficulty dumbing myself down to have this make any sort of sense. I mean it was nice stuff blowing up and all, but the plot holes became plot abysses it was difficult. So I kinda took it for escapist and highly gar action. For consideration of best action show, I found Code Geass to be a vastly superior action show, because I like more mental shows.
2) Quote of comment above by psgels: “Actually, don’t you think that “Defy All Known Physical Laws (Gundam 00)” fits Gurren Lagann better?
”
Yeah I wholeheartedly agree. The Gundam’s defy a relatively small amount of physics laws, mostly having to do with the ability to evade lasers which is preposterous. However when in GL you have “spiral power” and the mechas hurl actual universes/planets/whatever, you cross many many lines beyond Gundam in the ridiculous spectrum.
3) And my vote for favorite one liner was “zetsubou shita.” One of the many reasons I love SZS
haha, the last few episodes of Claymore are hard to take seriously.
i nominate Kamina for most GAR and “Believe in the me that believes in you!” for best one liner.
YESSS.
SPIN-ON! GARLOCK! >:D
“i nominate Kamina for most GAR and “Believe in the me that believes in you!” for best one liner.”
SECONDED.
ALL HAIL BRITANNIA!
Ahem.
Simon may be more GAR than Kamina, but only Kamina is a true don.
School Days surely was the missed opportunity for Black & Decker product placement. I can think of all kinds of unpleasant ways a drill could have been used in the final episode.
The Girl Who Leapt Through Time dealt with using time travel in everyday life the way you described. Except it was an oncoming train.
In defense of Rental Magica, Itsuki’s power lets him see the weak spots in magical defenses and beings. He’s telling his co-workers to aim at them. The first contractor actually controls gravity, including other people, so could float away the people chasing him.
FOR THE WIN! “Omae ga shinjiru ore wo shinjirou!” (“Believe in the me that believes in you!”)
While I don’t disagree with your naming Simon GARest of this year, I do disagree with your claims that Akagi is GAR. Dio and I are watching, and we both agree: Akagi is a psychopath, not a manly pillar of awesome. Scary =/= GAR.
Well you get them right when they count I guess. I don’t understand how Code Geass can be the runner up for best action series and what you call the biggest trainwreck. Again I don’t think it belongs in either of these as it’s an unfinished series.
Wow…For once, no Lucky Star. Well, there wasn’t much action to begin with anyway.
As for Rental Magica…Just to make sure you actually KNOW something about it, the “superpower” is called Glam Sight. Rather than focusing on how it manages to see the weaker points in magic concentration (as they called it in the show), you should have focused on a few episodes where the Glam Sight was suddenly able to take on new abilities to disable as well without warning.
@ Owaranai Destiny
Hi, you must be new here!
Good job completely missing the tongue-in-cheek humor and sarcasm of this entire awardshow. After all, focusing on how useful Itsuki’s ability isn’t very funny. Our goal was simply to lampoon the inherent irony of his character, something which unfortunately appears to be lost on you.
Oh well, anime = srs bsnss, after all.
@ Kaioshin Sama
Don’t misunderstand. Code Geass was terrible…so terrible that it was GARawesome. The show was definitely very cool and fun to watch, but also incredibly unintentionally hilarious. It’s this over-the-top ridiculous plot development and Sunrise-being-Sunrise that leads to the trainwreck designation. That doesn’t mean that it can’t still be a fun show, though.
I have no idea what you mean about Sunrise-being-Sunrise, but I assume it’s yet another generalization. For how much you protest to know about them, you seem woefully ignorant about their history. That’s what concerns me.
And you act like Code Geass is over for some reason, while there are still at least 25 episodes to go. What is this “was” that I count not once, not twice, but three times? You can’t just say Sunrise-being-Sunrise and expect that to some how automatically make the series a Trainwreck. Does that mean Cowboy Bebop, Escaflowne and PlanetES were also trainwrecks just because they were done by Sunrise? Finally I don’t think a series can be a trainwreck until it has become clear that it has failed to resolve it’s plot elements, which you haven’t even given it the time to do, but don’t quote me on that.
25 episodes is more than enough time to do so that I think we owe to Sunrise to resolve the plot elements that were left standing at the end of the first season.
@Owaranai Destiny: Yeah, these guy’s seem to focus on the negative in most cases when trying to be funny….except where Lucky Star and Haruhi or Slice Of Life series are concerned in which case everything is universally positive. If they weren’t so subjective on what they lampooned then I’m sure it would be easier to see the humour in their jokes, as then it’s obvious they are trying to be funny, but in this case (and most I’ve seen on Epic Win) it just looks more like they are trying to make their favourite shows look better by making everything else look worse with their commentary rather than trying to be humourus, even if there intention is more to poke fun.
I think there is an attempt at humour, but you have to have a certain mind set to appreciate it, which I don’t share as well as you. I however, find humour most accurate when it’s consistant.
@ Kaioshin Sama
“I however find humour most accurate when it’s consistant”
Hopefully more consistent than your spelling.
It’s good to know someone has enough seriousness to cover “all t3h intarw3bz.” Goodness, where would we be without you?
Ummmm excuse me, where is my spelling inconsistent? I spelled the word one way and one way only, which happened to be the wrong way unfortunately. Something that was only done one way, even if it was wrong, can not be considered inconsistent. I happened to have got off work late last night and was extremely tired. I then make one spelling mistake in a rather long and complex post I reworded several times, a common mistake at that that even academics will admit to having made, and that’s the entirety of your counterargument? Clever I must say….
Though that doesn’t do anything about my point.
To answer your question though, I don’t know. Probably exactly where you are right now.
@ Kaioshin Sama
It wasn’t exactly a counterargument. That would require that I cared enough about your position to respond in a manner that was not completely geared towards silliness.
Hopefully this clarifies my position.
I’m sorry if we ruffled your feathers, or if we ruffled any of your appendages in a manner that spurned you.
In addition:
there, their, they’re. These are three distinct words, each with a special and unique usage. I just thought you might like to know.
I like Pie.
lol Guff, I think you just got pwned.
Anyway, to summarize where we stand:
1. Kaioshin Sama likes Sunrise a lot.
2. I like Sunrise a lot also, although I also think they have silly scriptwriters.
3. In my opinion, 10 years ago Sunrise =/= today’s Sunrise.
4. Trainwreck does not necessarily == bad. In my mind, trainwreck = much wtf, such as crazy Orange-kun, spinning yo-yo of death, Pizza butt and Cheese-kun, Nunally siscon, table humping, lots of cheesy melodramatic lines, and many other facepalm incuding plot elements too numerous to list here. All that not to say that it’s a bad show; it’s just very hard to keep a straight face while watching.
5. I like sunsets as well, especially over the Pacific Ocean, preferably with a cute girl on my arm.
6. We can has grammars?
7. No one likes a spelling Nazi.
8. Especially not Shinichiro Watanabe. He hates them so much. That’s why he likes to use Engrish.
9. Did we have a point here? No? OK then, carry on.
10. I like cake. It’s true.
zomg Internet dramaz?
This post just reminds me that I have to watch TTGL…
If this banter has made someone decide to watch TTGL then all is right with this sordid, crazy, world.
@ Orion
The cake is a lie.
I don’t believe it! How DARE you bash my beloved anime and cherished animation studio!? I demand that you retract your unruly and obviously unfair statement, because it isn’t like this is your blog or anything. As an pedestrian on the internet I have a right to make these demands, because you are BIASED!
(on a side note, I’m sure there’s a reason for your impromptu hiatus, so it’s nice to see that the both of you are still alive.)
@ Owen
Thanks for the salutations; yes we are still alive.
The deadly duo of school and work have incapacitated us but only momentarily.
Apologies for our doldrums, we shall hopefully have some new content on the way shortly.
Hey, guys.
Regarding the best one-liner, I have to say those from Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann are the best of all. Especially the ever-memorable “ORE WO DARE DATO OMOTTE YAGARU!!!”
*insert obligatory gravity-defying orange sunglasses pose*
And yes, who the hell do we think we are to compare with the GARness that is Simon the Driller?
I literally just stumbled upon this site, and even though this is a fairly old thread in internet year, i feel compelled to add my voice.
i watched GL for the first time about 2, maybe 3 months ago… since then i have rewatched it in full twice and certian episodes perhaps 10 times (the final 2 for example). if you havent picked up on how i feel about GL, let me put it this way: i resently got my third person to take up GL, and afterwards i promptly ate a piece of cake as a reward for making the world a better place.
As to CG, i used to think it was the most amazing anime ever… then i saw Gurren Laggan and now “‘All Hail Britiania’ ‘Long Live Japan’” seem hallow compared to “WHO THE FUCK DO YOU THINK WE ARE?!” and its not just because of the caps (though they do make it cool =P).
oh, btw, “Row Row Fight the Powa!” is CLEARLY the best one liner! saddly, unless i utterly missed something, no character ever said it so… “Don’t believe in yourself! Believe in the me who believes in you!” i mean come on! it tears u down then builds you up 10 times as high in 2 sentences!!!